By providing students with $5,000 and a unique opportunity to intern at a prestigious news outlet, the late Adele Horin is helping instil her own high ethical standards in a new generation of journalists.
Keeping truth and integrity alive in journalism
Amaani Siddeek completed an internship as part of the Adele Horin Prize and emerged with a goal to engage Australians in news that matters.
With a last name that means ‘truthful’, perhaps investigative journalism was always on the cards for Amaani Siddeek. She is very interested in the human side of the craft and reporting on the stories that surround us every day.
“The stories that interest me the most are the ones that have a crossover between investigative and human interest,” Amaani says. “They pertain so deeply to the psyche and the human experience. And I think journalism is just so in touch with the lived experiences of everyday people.”
So when she heard about an opportunity to work full-time in The Guardian’s newsroom through the Adele Horin Prize, she jumped at the chance.
A formative experience
In 2019, Amaani become the first recipient of the Adele Horin Prize, giving her the chance to experience a world-class newsroom environment and learn from the best in the industry.
Each year, the prestigious prize awards a successful student $5,000 to fund an immersive internship experience at a well-known news outlet. The prize was created in memory of Walkley award-winning investigative journalist Adele Horin and is made possible through the generosity of her loved ones.
“I see stories everywhere now. Winning the prize was a truly formative experience.”
And for budding journalists like Amaani, the opportunity is priceless. “In unpaid internships you do the work of an employee without any of the benefits such as a nine-to-five structure or financial aid. As a young adult balancing university studies, extra-curricular activities and a personal life, this gets really difficult.”
Through the prize, Amaani was able to experience the day-to-day running of a world-class newsroom and became part of the team – without the financial worries that might come with unpaid internships.
“My experience was phenomenal. I got to see what a well-oiled machine The Guardian is and how well they work together as a team. I feel like this opportunity, along with my degree, has equipped me with the skills and experience to go into the industry with confidence and a sense of security.”
New perspectives
The internship has also left Amaani with a new sense of purpose – to engage Australians in real news that matters.
“Australia has such a complex social system and complex stories, yet our news is saturated with pop culture and celebrity gossip. So how do we produce news that’s important and engaging about Australia, its involvement globally and about the minutiae of the communities that exist within us?”
With aspirations of working her way into investigative or documentary journalism, Amaani is keen to get her career started when she graduates at the end of 2021.
“Australia has such fertile ground for communication and I’m just really excited to be a part of that and to help showcase more stories out there.”
